Tabla de contenidos para Jan 2024 - Issue 416 en Golf Australia

There seems to have been a plethora of young players recently who have hit the ground running upon moving into the pro ranks. Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg comes to mind as does 20-year-old American Rose Zhang. The following newly minted pros will all be gunning to start their professional careers with the same authority as their international counterparts. The big-name locals joining the play-for-pay ranks will continue to ply their trade on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and have the carrot of the Order of Merit and the potential of gaining a DP World Tour card dangling in front of them. Kazuma Kobori finished in a tie for ninth on professional debut at the Queensland PGA Championship. Hailing from the small town of Rangiora, some 40 minutes’ drive north of…

Ranking golf courses is far from being an exact science. While our stringent criteria and voting guidelines provided to our panellists establish benchmarks, the beauty really can be in the eye of the beholder when it comes to golf courses. This is something that really should be celebrated. Considering that subjectivity, I’m sure our list will prompt some healthy debate. That said, the Golf Australia approach we believe produces a true golfer’s guide you can rely on to plan future visits and inspire you to get out and play what is the cream of Australian golf. And that’s what you will find over the following pages … the best of the best. In fact, 163 courses received votes from our judges but, obviously, only the Top-100 is published here. The…

The seaside location of the Carrington Estate had me fully expecting to find a links style course. But this stunning layout on the Karikari Peninsula – about five hours’ drive north of Auckland Airport – might lie near (not quite beside) the Pacific Ocean but it is surprisingly more like an inland course with large naturally occurring water hazards and a rolling landscape dictating the flow of holes. Carrington was developed by American billionaire investment banker Paul Kelly back in the 1990s. Kelly purchased a large swath of coastal land across the top of the North Island. This included 3,000 acres on the Karikari Peninsula which he developed into the then named Carrington Club golf course, luxury lodge and the neighbouring Karikari Estate vineyards, New Zealand’s northernmost winery which has…

Odyssey Golf has ventured into the world of artificial intelligence with the creation and now launch of its new lineup of Ai-ONE and Ai-ONE Milled Putters. Featuring revolutionary insert technologies for more consistent ball speeds, even on offcentre hits, these new putters are designed to help you putt smarter. In the new Ai-ONE, Odyssey has leveraged Callaway’s industry-leading Artificial Intelligence design and supercomputing capabilities to create the most advanced insert in golf. The multi-material construction includes unique contours on the back of the face that minimise ball speed losses on off-centre hits, and greatly increase the sweet spot. Their revolutionary Ai-ONE urethane insert delivers more consistent ball speeds, even from off-centre hits, leaving putts – according to robot testing – up to 21 percent closer to the hole. To achieve…

A brand renowned for its innovative approach to apparel and golf gear has expanded into the kids’ market. The Linksoul Kids Capsule Collection is the same high-quality, stylish and sustainable apparel found in adult collections. One of the featured products in the collection includes the Kids Astoria Polo, available in two colours, a timeless polo shirt with cutting-edge Dri-Loft technology. It offers high-performance moisture-wicking capabilities while remaining incredibly lightweight, making it the perfect choice for active youth. There is also the Saturday Kids Unlined Volley Short, which offers unbeatable comfort with an adjustable drawstring. Plus, it’s eco-conscious, being crafted from a blend of sustainable materials. For more information or to purchase visit the website www.linksoul.com…

Name Billy Horschel Nationality American Age 36 Tour PGA Tour Pro wins Nine What was your first car and what do you drive now? My first car was a manual Ford Saturn and now I’ve got a Porsche Cayenne Turbo, so a bit of an upgrade. What was your first job before golf? I worked with my Dad’s construction crew doing labour, getting the mud ready, shoveling and cleaning up after them. What’s your most embarrassing moment on the course? I mean, I’ve acted like an idiot on the golf course once or twice and in the modern world that’s not fun because it’s always straight on social media. I probably should have been embarrassed when I slipped and fell on my butt at Augusta in 2021, but that was…

The R&A and the USGA have announced the first updates to the World Handicap System (WHS) since 2020 due to the surge in the game’s popularity and the increase in nine-hole rounds being played. The new WHS has allowed golfers to travel freely and accurately compare themselves regardless of where they find themselves in the world. As part of an ongoing review, the governing bodies have continued emphasising accuracy, consistency and equity. Numerous countries have experienced distinct increases in the volume of scores entered for handicapping purposes since the new system was introduced, reflecting golf’s broadening appeal. Both the R&A and USGA have collected plenty of data, ensuring the new updates are for the betterment of the game. More than 100 million scores are posted each year, unifying millions of…

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It’s early April 2023, and as golf’s elite arrived in Georgia for Masters week, the world’s 1,499th ranked golfer was signing off on his 7-under-par 64 at Florida’s Innisbrook Copperhead Course. An impressive round of golf, absolutely. But inconceivable for a player of that ranking? Not so much. More remarkable about Sebastian Wiis’ bogey-free round, just three shots shy of the course record, was that he managed to do so from 7,000 kilometres away. Oh, and without requiring a putter! Welcome to a brave new world, one where golf’s grinders are fighting virtually for a shot at the big time and a chance to prove their game can flourish on the fairways that host the game’s greatest tournaments. Make no mistake, the 994 golfers swinging on the NEXT Golf Tour…

Matt Fitzpatrick doesn’t carry the aura you might expect of a Major champion and Ryder Cup star. Instead, he has an air of normalcy as he begins a short game demonstration without any prompts or notes. Those who know him best will tell you that he is incredibly well educated on all aspects of the game. He is obsessed with making marginal gains and has tracked almost every shot he’s ever hit since he was 14. His database covers all of his shot patterns, tendencies and strokes gained, which he uses to inform his practice and strategy on the course. Driving and chipping used to be two of the weakest areas of his game, he tells us, but he has worked hard to turn both into super strengths. How he’s…

When I was chipping normally, it’s not like I had the yips. I was just getting a lot of inconsistency in the strike because of my tendency to break the wrists and drag the handle towards the target through impact. That’s really why I started chipping left hand low, because if you drag the handle cack-handed you will shank, skull or fat it every time. Another thing I like about using this grip is that you usually know what the ball is going to do. With a normal grip, sometimes the ball rides up the clubface and either spins a lot or tumbles forward with virtually no spin. The variance was frustrating, and the stats showed that it was costing me shots. Now, my short game is the strongest it’s…

In the golf swing, a flat left wrist (for right-handers) at the top of the backswing is an important position to master. There are essentially three positions of the left wrist at the top of the backswing. It is either cupped, flat, or bowed. Cupped – where the back of the left-hand points toward the back of your head at the top of the backswing – is the default position of most amateurs and is likely to lead to wild slices. A bowed left wrist sees the back of the left hand point skyward creating a closed clubface. Think of the likes of Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia and even LeeTrevino all swing with a bowed left wrist to some degree, but have the athleticism to compensate…

The golf world got its first glimpse of TaylorMade’s newest driver at the DP World Tour Championship when Rory McIlroy slipped the club into his bag. TaylorMade is not using the Stealth name with this new driver, instead calling it the Qi10. The World No.2 began testing the club in competition shortly after it appeared on the USGA conforming drivers list, which has the carbon fiber club listed as being available in 8-, 9- and 10.5-degree lofts. “It’s just a new driver that I have been playing around with,” he told the DP World Tour. “I still want to go out and try to win the golf tournament, but it could be a good time to test it out in competition.” McIlroy used a LS model, which traditionally means ‘low…

Greg Norman can sell. Because “Greg Norman” sells. Our man the Shark has long known the power of his brand, long known that by whacking “Greg Norman” on hats and houses, wine and wagyu beef, such commodities as ribeye steaks will up and walk out the door, as if on their own four legs, as if reanimated. Unlike Jack Nicklaus, whose Golden Bear Inc. nearly went bust investing in projects in the 1980s, Norman’s genius is that he doesn’t stump up any of his own money. Just as he need not know the intricacies of fermenting pinot noir nor in vitro-fertilising grain-fed heifers, sear the Shark brand into a hunk of meat and it can go from counter meal T-Bone to “classic American cut enhanced by the Japanese genetics of…

My coach, Mike Walker, tells a story about the 2020 Masters. It was November, wet and playing really long. I played with Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas for the first two rounds and they were hitting 8-irons in and I was hitting 4-iron. That’s a big difference. Later that year, we did a lot of work with my driving and I spoke to Sasho MacKenzie, who got me working with The Stack. That’s really where I picked up so much distance. And he seems to think I can gain even more, which is a big positive for me. WHAT THE STATS SAY Fitzpatrick has gained 10.6 yards in average driving distance since the 2020/21 PGA Tour season. HITTING IT FURTHER WILL DEFINITELY REDUCE SCORES FOR AN AMATEUR It’s about being…

FOCUS ON THE FUNDAMENTALS The big thing for me is feeling relaxed over the ball. I see too many tour pros and amateurs who look so stiff and rigid at set-up. From there you lose all concept of feel and flow, which makes it tough to build any kind of consistency. Whenever I think about my posture or feel a little bit of tension in my stroke, I always go back to softening my knees slightly and letting my arms hang naturally as I grip the club. I don’t think there’s any point in overcomplicating your set-up once you’re over the ball, otherwise you’ve got too many things in your mind and everything becomes too robotic. WATCH YOUR SPEED I see a lot of players who are very stabby with…

Is it fair to say two of the best golfers on the planet right now have unconventional swings? According to the text books, you’d have to say ‘Yes’. World No.3 Jon Rahm has steep arms, a bowed lead wrist and almost no core rotation. During the Masters, World No.1 Scottie Scheffler’s dancing feet prompted Sir Nick Faldo to question how on earth he manages to find the ball. We can extend the theme down the list of the current Official World Golf Ranking top-20, which includes the likes of Jordan Spieth, Viktor Hovland and Matt Fitzpatrick – stunning golfers all, of course, but players whose methods fly in the face of orthodoxy. So, here’s the question: how do we square this with the constant pressure we feel as club golfers…

Summer in Australia, of course, means heat, humidity and dreaded mossies. A new product called the Bug Bite Thing, is a different solution to put an end to the itch and swelling caused by mosquito bites, which can put you off your round. This innovative, painless suction tool is now available in Australia and provides immediate and chemical-free relief. How does it work? Simply place the tool over the mossie bite and slowly pull up the handles until you feel suction, and then hold it for 10-20 seconds before pushing the handles down to release the suction. Bug Bite Thing stands apart from other mosquito bite relief products due to its unique approach. Unlike creams and ointments that merely mask the problem, Bug Bite Thing eliminates the discomfort at its…

Cost: $84 (per dozen). Tested by: Callum Hill, Golf Australia Writer. FIRST IMPRESSIONS: I am certainly not a good enough player to be a ball snob. I am always open to having a nudge with a new seed, and after putting the Mizuno RB Tour X balls in play, I’d be content with keeping them in the bag. Straight away, when I slipped the first ball out of the sleeve, I liked what I saw: a clean and classic design – the Tour X simply looks like a good quality golf ball. So, it passed the first test. HOW THEY PERFORMED: Off the tee, the Tour X felt firm off the clubface and flew slightly higher than a competing model I have been playing with, which is a good thing for me…